Nodocephalosaurus
Name:
Nodocephalosaurus
(Knob headed lizard).
Phonetic: No-doe-sef-ah-low-sore-us.
Named By: Sullivan - 1999.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Ornithischia, Ankylosauridae, Ankylosaurinae.
Species: N. kirtlandensis (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Uncertain due to incomplete fossil remains.
Known locations: USA, New Mexico - Kirtland
Formation.
Time period: Campanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Initially only a partial
skull, further partial remains have been attributed to the genus.
Nodocephalosaurus
was described in 1999 from a partial skull but still managed to
make news amongst palaeontologists because it was unlike other North
American ankylosaurs.
In fact the shape of the skull of
Nodocephalosaurus is actually more like the skulls
of the ankylosaurs
Saichania
and Tarchia,
both currently only known from central Asia.
This is further evidence that in the Mesozoic North America and Asia
were joined by a land bridge that allowed several kinds of dinosaur
from stegosaurs to ceratopsians to even tyrannosaurs to radiate out
across both of these continents so that they had a similar assemblage
of fauna.
In
2006 further remains from the Kirtland Formation that included two
caudal (tail) vertebrae, cervical (neck) spine and two
osteoderms from a skull were attributed to the genus. Although not
found with the type specimen, these remains were attributed to
Nodocephalosaurus on the basis that it is the only
known ankylosaur
from this strata and location. Full reconstruction of this dinosaur
is still too difficult to establish with certainty, but comparison
with the aforementioned Saichania and Tarchia
does allow
palaeontologists to at least get an idea of what Nodocephalosaurus
might have looked like. Analysis of Nodocephalosaurus
has
revealed the presence of what is thought to be a well-developed nasal
area that is fairly common amongst ankylosaurs. This is seen as an
adaptation to dry climates by reducing the amount of moisture lost
through respiration.
Nodocephalosaurus
would have been heavily armoured in order to gain some protection from
predators, possibly such as the short snouted tyrannosaur
Bistahieversor
which is also known from the Kirtland Formation.
Further reading
- Nodocephalosaurus kirtlandensis, gen. et sp.
nov., a new ankylosaurid
dinosaur (Ornithischia: Ankylosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous
Kirtland Formation (Upper Campanian) San Juan Basin, New Mexico. -
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 19(1):126-139. - R. M. Sullivan -
1999.
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